Prototypes
"The subject can shift its body structure to an unknown degree. It can fashion portions of its body into a weapon, change its facial features and perhaps even imitate voices and mannerisms." Prototypes are individuals who have been drastically changed by strains of the BLACKLIGHT or REDLIGHT Virus. Essentially entities of sentient strains that rewrite their hosts, Prototypes exhibit incredible levels of power and extraordinary control over the virus. Known Prototypes Alex Mercer Alexander J. Mercer was a researcher and head of the BLACKLIGHT project at Gentek. He discovered the true nature of his work and how it was being used by his employers. Mercer then tried to escape with a stolen vial of the virus, but was cornered by Blackwatch personnel at Penn Station. In a fit of rage and vengeance, Mercer broke the vial and was shot down, becoming infected as he died. The virus from the broken vial killed the civilians inside the station. While his corpse was being transported to Gentek, the virus entered his body through his bullet wounds and rebuilt Mercer cell by cell. He later woke up in a morgue with little to no memory of his past. Mercer made it his mission to find out what happened to him, in the process discovering more about Blackwatch and its operations than he did as an employee of Gentek. James Heller Sgt. James Heller was a US Marine, stationed outside the US. During his time away from home, a deadly viral outbreak resulted with thousands of casualties. Heller returned home to find that his family was killed during the outbreak. Torn by grief and rage at his loss, Heller signs up for multiple suicide missions into the Red Zone. On one such mission, Heller and his squad were ambushed by Mercer. Heller pursued Mercer through the streets, stabbing him repeatedly, until Alex grabbed him, transforming him into a Prototype accidentally by infecting him with a unique strain of BLACKLIGHT. History During Gentek's secret experiments in Biological warfare, several scientists managed to synthesize and create a new virus, dubbed BLACKLIGHT, in their headquarters in Manhattan, New York City. The head of this project, Dr. Alex Mercer, uncovered Gentek's dark intentions and tried to bring it down. When he failed, he attempted to flee the city with a vial of the new virus as insurance. However, he was cornered by Blackwatch in Penn Station; Mercer managed to release the virus before he was killed, starting the first infection of New York City in 2009. Mercer's corpse became a host to the BLACKLIGHT, which formed a pool beneath his body while an airborne extension started infecting nearby civilians in the station. The virus consumed and replicated his entire body cell by cell until it created itself a full form taking on his appearance. Unknowingly to Blackwatch, Mercer had become the first Prototype. The next few weeks, Mercer experienced amnesia, but uncovered the truth of the virus and Gentek. After losing hope in all of humanity, Mercer lead a campaign to conquer the city, and then later the whole world. During the second outbreak in New York City, Mercer found a US Marine Sergeant and infected him with a unique strain of the BLACKLIGHT, making him into the second Prototype. Powers/Abilities The genetic rewrite caused by the BLACKLIGHT virus evolves its host's body, giving them superhuman abilities and transforming them into deadly shapeshifting beings of nearly limitless potential, power and destruction. They can fashion portions of their bodies into weapons and cause mass devastation to the environment with their incredible superhuman physical strength and durability (to the extent of being bulletproof and unharmed from extreme impacts such as falls from any height, explosions, etc.). Newly enhanced musculature and strengthened epidermis and bodily tissue increases their strength, speed, reflexes, and agility by shifting their biomass to their limbs, allowing them to break the boundaries of human sprinting and jumping/climbing ability to perform amazing parkour feats with limitless stamina. They are also capable of self-regeneration, usually by consuming living biomass to regenerate and heal themselves, though evolution eventually allows them to heal completely without consuming. When they consume an individual, they retain and assimilate the memories and the DNA of that individual. This, paired with a Prototype's ability to mimic voice and appearance (including that of their clothing and equipment), turns a host into a potent infiltrator of almost any security. Prototypes possess a sharpened sense of sight which allows them to see into the thermal spectrum. James Heller is shown to have a predatory sonar sense to hone in on prey from a distance. Their hearing is also heightened. Weaknesses A Prototype can be identified by viral detectors, machines built to identify the level of viral contamination within an installed radius. Being a viral organism, Alex Mercer was also at one point infected with a parasite designed by Karen Parker's research team to combat the virus. The parasite was meant to create an anti-virus for BLACKLIGHT, killing Mercer in the process. This parasite spread through his body, disabling any form of offensive and defensive transformation. With the help of pathologist Bradley Ragland, Mercer was able to cure himself of this inconvenience and increase his abilities further. Eventually Blackwatch and Gentek came up with Bloodtox, an anti-BLACKLIGHT chemical mixture which was deployed throughout the city in stages. Bloodtox is poisonous to Mercer and the infected, inducing necrosis in any tissue containing the virus. Eventually, Mercer developed an immunity towards the chemical, eliminating this weakness. While a Prototype can withstand and regenerate many injuries, they will be weakened by serious injuries such as losing limbs and will need to consume something in order to fully heal; if they take too many serious injuries, they can become too weak to regenerate.